Error may date to 2005

An error which led to hundreds of thousands of women in England missing in on breast screening invitations could date back further than previously thought, a cancer expert has said.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt revealed earlier this month that 450,000 women aged 68 to 71 had not been invited to their final routine screening due to a computer error dating back to 2009.

But Professor Peter Sasieni from King’s College London, believes the problems could have started as early as 2005 due to problems gathering data